Didier Deschamps: "We maintain a level of requirement"

The coach of the Blues began this Monday, his traditional press briefing start with a medical bulletin. He thus mentioned the packages of Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial, replaced by Moussa Sissoko and Alexandre Lacazette, for the matches of the French team against the Netherlands (League of Nations) and Uruguay (friendly) the 16th and 20th of November. He then swept the news.

With the packages of Pogba and Martial, have you thought about calling neophytes?

DIDIER DESCHAMPS. It's not difficult to open the group. This is often a difficult time for the players. There are a lot of injuries right now. I know you like openings, but if it's to call a player once and there's no tomorrow. I rely on logic and this list of alternates before the World Cup. The door is always open, the proof with Ndombele, but afterwards it's up to me to judge.

In particular, did it make sense to call Lacazette?

He came regularly with us, even though he was not in the group of 23. He did great things with his club, in Blue, he did some interesting things, others less. He is part of an extended group likely to come to the Blues at any time.

The remark is also valid for Moussa Sissoko?

He is an important player in recent years. He plays a lot more these days and is performing well with his Tottenham club.

Have you traded with the Barcelona staff about Dembélé who was not selected this weekend due to his absence from Thursday's training?

No, for the simple reason that I do not interfere in the life of clubs. It is a little customary compared to some delays. Whether in a big club or team France, he must pay attention to that. He is a young player who has known a lot about his age. These aspects, he must improve them to prevent it from becoming negative. The sooner he makes sure to understand that, the better for everyone and first for his club.

And if he does not understand it you could change his attitude towards him?

It's not just him; There are others (Editor's note: in a previous rally, the coach had urged Benjamin Mendy to do more). There are different options available to me. I do not despair. The more they will talk about them by their sports performances, the better. If, at some point, it does not answer, I will make sure to understand differently. Nobody is perfect. It can happen to one or the other. They all have the right to make mistakes. The ideal is that they do everything right, on and off the field but that will never be the case and it has never been the case.

A draw in the Netherlands is enough to qualify you. Are you not tempted, therefore, to adopt a pattern of play dictated by prudence?

We will prepare this match with the idea of ​​winning it, to do everything to put the opponent in trouble. The Dutch team is in full renewal. She is full of life, of qualities. It's going to be a complicated date for us on Friday.

Since September, the France team has sometimes appeared on a wire. Would not you like to benefit from a little more margin?

Many nations would like to be so on a thread starting with the Netherlands and Germany. We maintain a level of requirement of results and performances. We must not minimize what we have accomplished in the last two months. With seven points, we are in the position to qualify for the Final Four of the League of Nations on Friday. The state of mind is always there, the desire to achieve the goals before us too. Until today, we have assumed our status as world champions and we will try to continue in the last two games of the year.

Is not the situation a little paradoxical with a selection of world champions and troubled clubs on the European scene?

By the last results, we can say indeed that the French teams are in difficulty. In Ligue 1, there is the PSG which is above. We know it. The French Championship is of a good level. Of course, that Paris has so many facilities on this championship … It is better that there is more adversity. But this is not the fault of PSG.